The Improvement of JVaste Lands connected icith Mines. 431 



The unsightly pit-heaps referred to frequently cover an area 

 of from two to three acres, and in some instances considerably 

 more. The deposit of these heaps has in the majority of cases 

 been made in the most convenient place for getting the stones 

 and shale drawn from the mines off the land, regardless either of 

 the permanent loss of the land on which they lie or of the 

 inconvenience of the corners formed by them in the fields. The 

 workcd-out brickyard too is often of a similar extent to the 

 pit-heap, with the soil and subsoil taken out to a depth of from 

 G to 10 feet. Besides the portions of land cut up into patches 

 by the crossing and re-crossing of railways, or rendered waste 

 by other peculiarities of the mine and its accompanying works, 

 there is often a large area of land considerably damaged by pit- 

 falls or the subsidence of the surface consequent on the working 

 out of the minerals beneath. This falling of the surface deranges 

 the strata ; and it not unfrequently happens that Avell-drained 

 land in good condition is rendered next to a morass or bog by 

 the subsidence of the main body of the field, while the upper 

 end of it, Avhich probably has not fallen in a corresponding 

 degree, drains its water on to the surface instead of keeping the 

 former subterranean track. 



The Improvement of the Waste Lands spoken of. 



Since the locomotive steam-engine supplanted the waggon- 

 horse, the owners of mines and other works have been able to 

 dispose of the stones and other refuse in another way than by 

 laying them down to occupy available land. The carriage of 

 these to a suitable place of deposit is not now such an insur- 

 mountable obstacle as was the case when every Avaggon was 

 drawn by the sinews and muscles of the horse. In coal-mines 

 the stones and shale cannot be all stov/ed away in the workings 

 beneath, and a single pit in one night generally draws a con- 

 siderable quantity, but emptied into waggons as they are, the 

 locomotive glides easily and swiftly away Avith them before 

 the regular throng of the pit commences. The worked-out 

 brickyard will readily suggest itself as a place of deposit, and if 

 a branch line can be laid to it conveniently for the engine it will 

 make a good one. An old brickyard in connection with three 

 of the pits on the Lambton collieries was filled up in this way. 

 It covered an area of upwards of three acres. After being 

 finished a portion of it was set apart as building sites, and 

 during the last summer (18G5) 40 comfortable and substantially- 

 built cottages were erected for the miners. The sites for the 

 cottages were allowed to get properly consolidated before the 

 buildings were commenced. As dwellings for the Avorkmen, 

 they are much above the average for neatness and comfort. 



VOL. II. — S. S. 2 F 



